The Arizona state Senate approved legislation Wednesday permitting businesses in the state to refuse service to potential customers based on an owner’s religious beliefs, infuriating equal rights advocates who claim the bill legalizes LGBT discrimination.

The bill, known officially as Senate Bill 1062, was approved by
the Republican-controlled Senate, which voted along strict party
lines. State Democrats proposed eight amendments to the bill in
an attempt to stop what they decried as discrimination against
the gay and lesbian community, but each of those efforts failed.

The most polarizing part of the bill reads, in part:

“'Exercise of religion' means the practice or observance of
religion, including the ability to act or refusal to act in a
manner substantially motivated by a religious belief whether or
not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of
religious belief.”

State Senator Steve Yarbrough, the bill’s sponsor, said he has
been pressing for the bill because of a New Mexico state Supreme
Court ruling that allowed a gay couple to sue a photographer for
refusing to take pictures at their wedding.

The bill’s opponents say that Yarbrough and other social
conservatives are trying to portray themselves as martyrs as they
aim to pass a vague law that would leave widespread
discrimination unchecked.

The Arizona Republic reported that the bill, which has a
counterpart in the state House of Representatives known as HB
2153, was written by the conservative Center for Arizona Policy
and Alliance Defending Freedom – a non-profit Christian lobby
group that dedicates funding to the pro-life movement and has
long opposed marriage equality.

The bill now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Jan Brewer.
She has five days to sign or veto the bill. If she chooses to
ignore it, it will automatically become law. While the governor
has given little indication about which way she is leaning,
Brewer has forged her reputation as a conservative on similar hot
button social issues like immigration and abortion.

EJ Montini, a columnist with the Arizona Republic, said that SB
1062 sets a dangerous precedent for people of various
backgrounds.

“Essentially what it would do is allow people to refuse
service to people who may be gay, who may be of certain religious
affiliations - we don’t know, there could be a lot of exposure in
this particular bill- only because they have a particular
religious belief,” he said. “We really have no issue
like this in Arizona and this is extremists in the legislature
essentially appeasing zealots out in the community...It is the
most ungodly way to view religious freedom.”

While Arizona would be the first state in the US to approve such
a bill, other right-leaning states including Idaho, South Dakota,
and Kansas have considered similar legislation. A number of the
bills have come in response to the federal government’s recent
announcement that same-sex couples will be given the same
treatment as heterosexual couples under current tax law.